HELLO FELLOW CANUCKS ~ I received another request to start up a new CANADIAN WINTER Thread as the thread was missed and more people have time to come by in the winter time. It is also a time that many people want to renew their weightloss efforts. Let's see how it goes, and I will do my best to keep it up and going, and I hope that many of our fellow Canadians will drop by to visit us ...

Remember -- this thread is here to offer support to other Canadians; AND it is to encourage and support each other in our weightloss efforts too. Feel free to talk about anything you like here (and that includes the weather); and/or come by just to chat for a bit ... ROSEBUD

I'm here. Since we were last together I have gained weight and found out it wasn't all my fault. I was diagnosed with a low functioning thyroid also known as Hypothyroidism and carb sensitivity aka Insulin resistance. Now that I am on meds for my thyroid and staying away from carbs except in veggies, for now, I am hoping to see the scale move to the left. In 7 days I have lost 6. I have had only 1 bad sugar in a reeses peanut butter cup. I am very impressed with myself considering we have gone through Halloween and Peanut butter cups are my sons favourite and we have lots of them. I am trying to drink more herbal tea. I have bought all kinds of flavours and so far none of them need sugar to get them down.

I am still following the Blood type O plan. When I go off I suffer terribly. I am still not getting any support at home from either DS or DH. I did however get an elliptical trainer from my MIL so far I can do 5 min. at a time. I am hoping that by warmer weather I will have that built up to an hour.

HI 2b -- great, you found it right away ... I had to take a break to get dinner on the table and came back to check once we had the dishes done. I'm sorry to hear you don't have much support at home; I hope we can be your support here. I also have to watch my carb intake as well, although I can have some, but I try to have switched to whole grain carbs and I watch how many grain or starchy carbs I have each day.

My doctor(s) (last & present) have me on Metformin which makes me very hungry at times, so I have to have some carbs, but I am trying for those that have a lower GI number (meaning less natural sugars in them). Whole grains help to slow the blood sugar spikes and I am trying to have 2 servings of fruit like berries, or a small GREEN banana, peaches, nectarine, rhubarb, etc all of which have less fructose in them.

You are doing great to have lost 6 lbs already -- it's great to see some downward movement on the scale after a stall or a gain and trust me; I know how it feels. That was so nice of your MIL to get you that elliptical; and that's OK if you start at 5 minutes; work your way up a bit at a time.

I started my walking at 5-10 minutes at a time; going up and down our laneway; then up the street to the end of the block and back. It is all uphill and takes me between 20-30 minutes there and back. If I use my trekking poles (really ski poles), I can do it in 20 minutes, so I am extending it. Sometimes DH & I go to a special place and go for a longer walk to make sure we get the 30 minutes in a few times a week; and I go department store walking in between too. At my weight, I have to focus on walking for now; and this is important to help keep my sugars in line and improve my circulation which I need badly at this time.

I would like to eat less carbs, but my blood sugar level dips down too much, so I have to eat some and I have a severe Vitamin & Mineral deficiency so I have to take lots of supplements for that too. So I have to work around these things. I am doing some toning work in the AM upon rising and hand weights every other day for strengthening too.

I am always tweaking my plan and have been doing some daily calorie tracking lately to see how I can improve things a bit. Mainly, I am on a Whole Foods Portion Plan and I do use tips from Volumetrics, the GI Diet, and other plans (like the Beck Plan) to help me out. Actually, I'll use everything and anything that works best for me ...

Rosebud, Have you ever checked out this site: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ for keep track of calories? I use it. I like it better than fit day only b/c if there is a food not in the huge data base you can add it to the database. Not only it will keep a list of the food you use on a regular basis handy to keep track of. I have been using it since Jan of last year.

I like walking over any other exercise but until I can get a treadmill I will use the elliptical.

have you ever tried using gluten free breads and stuff, That is the only kind carb other than veggies I can have

Well, had to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the dentists to get a tooth pulled out early this AM; and as I am getting ready a bunch of things decide to go wrong, but I did manage to have a shower, get my hair party dry and out the door (although, I had to come back once to go to the washroom again).

Then we finally get on our way and hit a detour, but we made it almost on the dot anyways; thank goodness they were still working with some other people at the time. I had to take some meds to calm my nervous tummy down and that finally kicked in just after he started his work. Next time, I take them a bit earlier.

Had nice mini-subs (my own homemade one on a whole wheat hot dog bun with lean roast beef & thinly sliced onion, & mozzarella cheese with mustard) for brunch as I didn't have time to have any breakfast or a snack this AM; so to make up for it, I had two mini-subs instead. They were quite nice and soft and easy for me to chew on my right side of my mouth.

Will probably have a homemade chicken soup/stew for dinner tonight; that would be nice I think; maybe with some brown rice and the leftover veggies from yesterday too. After going to the dentists, we went to pick up a few things and I got most of my Christmas shopping done. Our local department store workers were busy as bees putting up lots of stuff today. Just have to get something more for DH and some small stuff next month.

HI 2b ~ I didn't see your post at first; got distracted by DH as he needed my help to find a movie he wanted to see and then he needed a needle to get a sliver out of his thumb. Oh good, he found the tape and now I can finish my typing ...

No, I haven't tried that site; I will copy the link and go take a look at it. I noticed that when I keep track of what I'm eating that I eat much less. I have heard others say that, but until you actually do it, you don't realize just how much of a difference it makes.

I made my own file up called " My Tracking Journal" and wrote a list of the things I eat the most. The first month was just an experiment to see where I could make some improvements; but now that I see such positive results with it, I have decided to continue with it for the winter and see what results I get for the effort. It only takes a few minutes a day: maybe 5-10.

I haven't tried the gluten free breads yet; I'll take a look at our grocer and see what they have there. We have a somewhat limited selection as we only have one grocery store in our small town; we do have one department store that recently expanded their food section but not sure they'd have specialty stuff like that though, but I'll have a looksee ...

Nice to see this thread back. Meowee would be pleased and is probably smiling down at us.

It's definitely heading towards winter around here. The big wind on Saturday finally stripped the leaves off the trees and dried them up a bit. I did some outside tidying today but won't get at the raking until Wednesday or Thursday. If we get snow soon, it really won't matter until spring.

The "lads" have been out deer hunting lately and I'm expecting my friend Art to show up at my door with some venison. I usually pay him back with an apple pie so must get one or two ready to bake.

By the way, I'm a carb tracker too (diabetic) and find that I do best when I keep them low. I have also started doing 90 minutes at the gym three days a week and have found it's made a huge difference, not in weightloss but in strength and energy. It's also done wonders fro my BP and blood sugar levels. Whodathunk I'd become a gym bunny at 70!

__________________

Change isnít easy. But if you donít change, you stay the same, and whereís the fun in that?

HI LADIES ~ having a great day so far; on track and on plan. We have an odd mix of sunshine and ***** falling at the same time: how interesting; and they are big flakes too, kinda pretty really.

RUTH -- thanks for dropping by; nice to see you. Good for you going to the gym; what all do you do while you are there? 90 minutes is a long time. I use to go to one when I was younger. First we started with a couple of walks around the outside track (one in the beginning); then some weight work on machines mixed with situps (on a slanted bench); a bike ride; some stretches; and finally another walk around the track. I lost a lot of inches but gained 10 lbs in 1 year; the master trainer said I tone up great and lost sizes but gained in muscle too ...

We have a new gym here but I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet; I'm doing walking, stretches, toning, chair aerobics, hand weights, and stretchie band work, varying it each day.

HELLO FRIENDS ~ we were blessed with gorgeous all morning; then clouds rolled in for the afternoon and the temps plummeted. We had some new visitors at our big feeder today -- about 13 big & beautiful Rock Doves, plus 2 Woodpeckers, a bunch of mixed Sparrows, and a huge flock of Starlings all vying for the same spots ... it was so fun to watch.

My bird book says that Rock Doves won't go on or in a feeder, but they sure went into ours; DH made it so big that even they can fit in it, but they were having a time trying to figure out how to get in there and then they played this game where they chased others out ... very funny!

Have been taking it easy today; did laundry yesterday, and today doing hand mending while resting my body as it has been thru the wringer this week. Had a good, on track and on plan day so far. Having leftover spagetti with meat sauce that I had frozen in individual containers for dinner tonight; and may have a baby cucumber salad along with that too.

I spent yesterday in class all day for a Security course. I passed the final exam and recieved my certificate and had my picture taken recieving the certificate. I also finally recieved my certificate from a course I took in Gravenhurst last year. I spent a week up there at the end of sept '08 taking this course. Apparently my boss in Security doesn't like just handing over certificates he like to present them cerimonially.

I have had a good day today. food wise. I am trying to figure out supper right now. I feel like I am off my planning game lately.

Good morning - **** in the forecast tonight but it looks like that will give the go ahead to Indian summer. It's always after the last fall full moon and the first snow.

Rosebud, I have no trouble doing 90 minutes in the gym when half of it is treadmill - in two sessions. I do ball work, resistance on the machines and free weights. It's a workout but I feel soooo good afterwards. Thanks for the reminder re the bird feeder. I spotted some cardinals yesterday and that reminded me a bit too.

2b125, congratulations on finally getting your certificate. Silly boss! I don't seem able to manage the elliptical at the gym. The so-called "fixed" knee has problems. I will persevere though as I know it gives a much better and faster workout than the treadmill which I find very boring.

Time to give the house a bit of a tidying so Donna can clean. That sounds silly but she does a better job if she doesn't have to clean around papers and things like that on my desk.

Canadian Things To Do Today:
- put the summer tires into the barn until April
- fill and hang the bird feeder
- check out the plough guy in case he's not doing my lane this winter
- drain and stash the hoses
- find the outside lights and decorations - Did I throw them out last year?
- cover the AC
- have a cup of cranberry tea when it starts to get dark out there

If I get that all done, I'll feel ready for winter.

__________________

Change isnít easy. But if you donít change, you stay the same, and whereís the fun in that?

Hi everyone! Another Canadian checking in! No s**w here today, the high is supposed to be 17! Wierd!

I have been back on track since the end of April and have lost 28 pounds. I am just counting calories. I was walking during the summer before work in the morning, but once the mornings got too dark, I just fell off the exercise wagon. We are on vacation next week, but once we get back I am going to get back to exercising one way or another.

We are going to Cancun next week, and there is a tropical storm (Ida) headed that way. Hope it doesn't materialize!

I can sure tell this is a CANADIAN thread -- all this talk of trips south!!! Just like Canadians wanting to escape the snow and winter, but not me ... I'm stayin' home and hybernating! Honestly though, I don't have the health to travel anyways.

JUDY LYNN ~ glad you joined us here on our Canadian thread; have a wonderful trip, and see you when you get back ...

2b ~ I have 7-day weekly menu on the side of my fridge that I can see at a glance to give me some ideas for dinner on any given day. I find this really helpful for me ...

Another Canadian checking in I've survived the parent teacher interviews yesterday and today, whoo! The parents were all supportive thank goodness.
Rain and wind here, I'm wondering if the dogs really need to go out tonight? I know they want to...lol....and I need the walk.....hmmmm.......
Nice to meet you.